Indiadefeated England in the semi-finalof the T20 World Cup 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai by a slender margin of 7 runs. This helped them qualify for the final of the mega tournament that is set to be held on March 8 (Sunday) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. They will play New Zealand in the summit clash of the tournament. For India to create history, and become the first team to win back-to-back T20 World Cups, they need to field a strong playing XI. Going into the final, there is a chance that India might make two big changes in the playing XI against New Zealand.

Abhishek Sharma was the most important player for India coming into the T20 World Cup 2026. However, he has been in poor form throughout the tournament, scoring 89 runs from 7 games. In the semi-final too, he looked off colour. Hence, there is a chance that he might be dropped from the tournament.

Hence, Ishan Kishan could come up to open the order alongside the in-form Sanju Samson. Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube could slot in the next three slots. In place of Abhishek, India can bring in Rinku Singh to strengthen their middle order. Hardik Pandya will continue to be their premier all-rounder, alongside Axar Patel.

Varun Chakaravarthy has been amongst the wickets, picking 13 scalps in 8 games, and being India's highest wicket-taker in the T20 World Cup 2026. However, he has been leaking runs in the past few games, especially in the Super 8 stages.

In the semi-final against England, he gave away 64 runs in his 4 overs, the most by any bowler in the history of T20 World Cup knockouts. Hence, he could be replaced by Kuldeep Yadav as the main spinner.

The pace attack would remain the same, with Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh leading the attack.

Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah

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Shaunak Ghosh is a Senior Sports Correspondent at Timesnownews with over seven years of experience in print and digital journalism. He holds a postgra...View More

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